Sunday, February 28, 2016

I've done massive blogs over the past few years chronicling the Academy Awards, or the Oscars if you will. But, I feel like hitting the big points of the show that everyone cares about is the best way to go. I'm not going to go over things like sound mixing or sound editing. These are obviously massively important, just not to the average movie-goer that just wants to turn their brain off for a few hours. Not to mention I think this year was pretty lacking for film overall. I had my favorites from 2015, but after those 15, maybe 25 films, there was a big drop off for me. The huge controversy over the lack of diversity was a big story was well, and I hate a lot of these nominees and thought quite a few of them could've been switched out for much better performances. In any event, I'll be touching of what I have determined to be the 100% end all be all of the awards show this year. Chris Rock should be a great host this year and won't hold back at anything going on in Hollywood currently. By the way, these are all my thoughts and I'm picking what I liked and loved this year, and who I want to see win. Not necessarily who is going to win. So, thank you for reading and/or sharing this, if you do, and I hope you like my little bit of thoughts on film's whit--I mean biggest show of the year!

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-Best Picture-

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

I had seen all but "Bridge of Spies" by the time the official nominations for Best Picture this year were announced. I have now since seen all eight of these films and I can safely say these are probably the best that The Academy were going to put in this list. *cough* "Creed" and "Straight Outta Compton" *cough* Probably the biggest surprise being that "Mad Max: Fury Road", my personal favorite 2015 film, made the cut, being a pure action film. The rest are really good picks too. These were films non-superhero, animated or Star Wars, that were high on my favorites this past year. "Room" and "Spotlight" landed near the top of my favorites, as they were spectacular story and acting-wise from start to finish. In "Spotlight", Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams were amazing. While in "Room" Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay were perfect. "The Martian" and "The Revenant" had big time performances. Leonardo DiCaprio went all out while Matt Damon carried "The Martian" to way more than what I was expecting. While "The Big Short", "Bridge of Spies" and "Brooklyn" had big time stories headlined by great performances from Christian Bale, Tom Hanks and Saoirse Ronan. I wouldn't be shocked to see any of these actually win, but I the likely candidates for me are "Bridge of Spies," "Spotlight," "Mad Max: Fury Road" or "The Revenant." Also find a place for "Creed" on this list, Academy, it was awesome.

Who I Want to Win

Who Will Win

-Actor in a Leading Role-

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

This is a HUGE example of The Academy being out of touch with what I think everyone else is seeing on screen. Trying to force Eddie Redmayne down our throats after half of a good film in "Theory of Everything" from last year. And I'm not sure anyone in the world has actually seen "Trumbo." No offense to Heisenberg himself. The two glaring omissions that would be on my list are Michael B. Jordan, who was spectacular in "Creed." As well as O'Shea Jackson Jr. for his performance in "Straight Outta Compton." Oh, these guys are African-American? Maybe that's why they're not on this list. Michael Fassbender was leagues better than Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs by the way. Even so, I don't think anyone would win over Matt Damon or Leonardo DiCaprio. Damon took a good film in "The Martian," and made it into a enjoyable science fiction action thriller set on Mars. While DiCaprio turned in a performance that made "The Revenant" really good, from only really okay, in my eyes. I think it's finally Leo's year, but I wouldn't be shocked of Damon somehow won.

Who I Want to Win

Who Will Win

-Actress in a Leading Role-

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Jennifer Lawerence (Joy)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

I've seen all but "Carol" from this list, but I never wanted to see this in the first place. Everyone loves Cate Blanchett, but I think she's only alright. Maybe it's me being a 25 year old man, and her always being in these deep, long, romantic dramas, that only work for me if I'm in a really adventurous mood. I found Jennifer Lawernce only okay yet again in her annual David O. Russel film with Bradley Cooper. Charlotte Rampling was fine in "45 Years" as well. I'm a the point where I'm not going to watch Oscar-bait simply because it's Oscar-bait. I'm not calling "Carol" Oscar-bait, but there's a lot of bait throughout all these nominations this year, as there is every year. The two big ones though, and I think no one else would have a shot against, are Saoirse Ronan in "Brooklyn" and Brie Larson in "Room." Ronan delivered a great performance of an immigrant leaving her home to come try to make it in America. While Larson delivered a spectacular and emotionally investing performance in "Room" that simply blew me away. I really hope she wins.

Who I Want to Win

Who Will Win

-Actor in a Supporting Role-

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

I like everyone here! Everyone had great supporting performances in the films they were nominated for. This shouldn't be a long one for me to type out since I really don't mind seeing anyone from this list win. Kind-of wish that Michael Keaton had been nominated for "Spotlight" too cause everyone in that film was on point. In any event seeing Stallone winning for "Creed" would also be a win for Michael B. Jordan who was, as I stated above, unrightfully snubbed. Mark Rufflao is always awesome and seeing "Spotlight" get love tonight would be pretty sweet.

Who I Want to Win

Who Will Win

-Actress in a Supporting Role-

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

I've only seen "Spotlight," "The Hateful Eight" and "Steve Jobs." I thought Jennifer Jason Leigh was great in Tarantino's latest film. While I think the whole cast of "Spotlight" deserved nominations in all honesty, and I really would like to see Rachel McAdams take home the gold tonight. Rooney Mara is always fine and "Carol" has a lot of buzz behind it. Kate Winslet, for "Steve Jobs," has been nominated and won awards over the years as well. Plus she was really solid in the film. Go McAdams though, we're not biased here in this preview.

Who I Want to Win

Who Will Win

-Animated Feature Film-

Anomalisa

Boy and the World

Inside Out

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There

I love animated films. I grew up with them, as most kids did. I never really grew out of watching them, I more, expanded my horizons. I don't think nowadays you can only be someone who watches Disney or Pixar. You have to watch people making stop motion films like "Anomalisa." You have to, at this point, be watching almost everything that Studio Ghibli puts out, like "When Marnie Was There." Finally, Pixar, is still a force in the world of animated film and is as good as ever. "Inside Out" was my favorite animated film from 2015 and it could arguably be film of the year in some peoples minds. I would be pretty surprised if "Anomalisa" or "When Marnie Was There" beat out "Inside Out." All are worth your time though.

Who I Want to Win

Who Will Win

-Directing-

The Big Short (Adam McKay)

Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)

The Revenant (Alejandro G. Iñárritu)

Room (Lenny Abrahamson)

Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)

The director, a lot of the time, is someone who can be emotionally insensitive and seen as almost tyrannical. While more often than not, this is completely true, all the films we ever watch are helmed by one of these men. I think all of the directors of all these nominees were great. But the two that stand out for me are George Miller for the simply dazzling display throughout "Mad Max: Fury Road." His direction and storytelling through film is partly what has gotten Mad Max this far. After last year's "Birdman," Alejandro G. Iñárritu has followed up his surprising "one shot" film, with "The Revenant." A film that has a breathtaking performance, is visually stunning, but in my opinion is lacking in a lot of other places. Though I think it's a big possibility any of these guys take home the big prize, it should be one of these two.

It has been said, and pretty much documented as well, that if you're nominated for the Film Editing category, that you'll have an amazing chance to win Best Picture. With the exception of last year's "Birdman," 33 out of the last 34 nominees in Film Editing went on to win the big one. Now obviously it's cool to see Star Wars being nominated, it's probably not going to win. Sorry, Lucas. I could honestly not tell you who is going to take home best picture, so picking between the remaining four here would be a nightmare. I would lean towards, like in my Best Picture picks, "Mad Max: Fury Road" or "The Revenant" to win here, and likely, go on to win the big one.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

It's no secret that if you've ever read any of my Marvel Cinematic Universe film reviews I've done over the years that I love the product Marvel (and now Disney) is putting out. This of course is "Deadpool" and it's being put out by the X-Men guys, 20th Century Fox. Now at times the X-Men franchise has been a complete mess. But, if you look at the overall product, X-Men, X2 and the First Class series onward, X-Men has been churning out enjoyable movies since the turn of the century. Deadpool is a more obscure character to the average comic book consumer and someone who doesn't know about comics probably won't recognize him at all. Over the past few decades he's gained the reputation of anti-hero that breaks the fourth wall constantly and is aware that he is in-fact a comic book superhero. He's irreverent, foul mouthed and doesn't really care what he does to anyone at a given moment. "Deadpool" is the filthy R-Rated Marvel movie that we've been waiting for for awhile now. Not only is it currently smashing everything at the box office, but it's receiving praise from just about everyone that sees it. Ryan Reynolds is brilliant and leads the way as the Merc with a Mouth comes to life for the first time on the big screen. I'm probably going to spoil comedic bits and one-liners throughout this, so read on at your own risk.

"Deadpool" follows the story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds), a mercenary, with a wicked sense of humor, who takes care of teenage girls who have stalkers. One night at Weasel's (TJ Miller) bar, a local bar where people of the underbelly converge, Wade meets an escort named Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin). After a game of ski ball, the two become entrenched in a romantic relationship for about a year. One day, though, after proposing to Vanessa, Wade collapses. It turns out that Wade has terminal cancer. Vanessa sticks with him, but he fears for her emotional well being. One night, at Weasel's bar, a man gives Wade a proposal that would take away his cancer, to which he refuses. After a few days he decides to take the man up on his offer and is taken to be experimented on by Francis Freeman aka Ajax (Ed Skrein). He is also tortured by Angel Dust (Gina Carano) until one day he is put in a airtight chamber and pushed to his limits. This permanently disfigures Wade, but brings out his superpowers (and takes away his cancer). After setting ablaze and then escaping Ajax's lair, he vows to become Captain Deadpool...just kidding, just Deadpool, track down Ajax, get the cure for his condition and win Vanessa back.

"Deadpool" isn't about the over top the CGI action. While it looks good at times and clunky at others, it gets the job done for the budget that they had. Most superhero films nowadays focus on mostly spectacle with a good dose of character interaction. "Deadpool" is not one of those films. You will be in the head of Deadpool and trying to keep up. The opening credits sequence credit the producers as "Asshats" and give you multiple CGI shots of Deadpool's ass and balls, for lack of better words. This is the type of fourth wall breaking, or perhaps 16th wall breaking if you prefer, is what Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool will bring throughout the film. Joke after joke and one liner after one liner will be fired at you relentlessly. They're weaved perfectly at times between the CGI violence and the gratuitous sex. Even when some of the humor falls flat, they're another joke right around the corner, so you're not dwelling on stuff that may not work for you. Our theater on Thursday night was ready for this film and there was a constant state of laughter throughout the entire film. This is what Reynolds fought for, the R-Rated Deadpool that would've needed to be seriously neutered to get a PG-13 rating. I really do think it would take away from the overall film. While most of it wasn't too shocking, there are moments in the dialogue that will have people doubled over, while at the same time grossing out someone else. That baby hand scene was hysterical.

The nods to Wolverine, Wolverine: Origins, Green Lantern and Hugh Jackman throughout the film were sidesplitting. Much of what I'm about to drone on about is thanks to the writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. They gave everyone a phenomenal script to work with. Each interaction with Blind Al (Leslie Uggams) in Deadpool's and her apartment was great. The comedic timing between Weasel (Miller) and Wade/Deadpool was spot on. The sexual montage between Wade and Vanessa (Baccarin) was better than anything "Fifty Shades of Grey" had to offer last year. It went to places you'd probably never thought you'd see on screen in a Marvel film in 2016. Finally, the interactions and fighting between Deadpool, Colossus (Stefan Kapičić), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Ajax (Skrein) and Angel Dust (Carano) were the main catalyst of the action throughout. The exchanges between Wade and Francis were great. Colossus was portrayed better than he's ever been in an X-Men film so far. He's a great fatherly type figure who is the polar opposite of Deadpool's do and say anything style. Negasoinc Teenage Warhead, awesome name aside, had some great moments when paired with Deadpool. Not to mention her super powers are pretty awesome. Ajax is a great bad guy and Skrein played him with a cocky swagger that worked really well. The length is perfect at about an hour forty minutes, the music and score were fun and the acting (if you don't over-analyze it) was perfect for this type of film. Especially Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool who nails the performance on the head. The two post credit scenes are well worth waiting for too.

I've barely scratched the surface at all the humorous nods to real life, things and people that are called out in this film. "Deadpool" completely blurs the line between comic book, real life and Marvel film. All the different timelines really are confusing. It has its slow parts, it has it's dud jokes and at the end of the day it is another superhero origins story. But, Ryan Reynolds commits completely to everything that is Deadpool and delivers a Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man-like performnace. The jokes and humor are mostly hit throughout the entire run time. If you have a good sense of humor and a basic knowledge of all the different film companies Marvel is apart of, as well as the X-Men or MCU films, this will hit you directly in the funny bone. The CGI is alright, the story is surprisingly deep for a "Marvel origins" film and the love story twist kept it from being just another origins flick. Like I said above, this is the R-Rated Marvel superhero film that needed to be released. X-Men is great, Avengers is great, but this is the first we've seen straight foul-mouthed humor and action blended, and boy did it work out well. "Deadpool" is a must for any fan of comics, comic films and/or comedy. Thank you Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds. #Driveby

Monday, February 1, 2016

Believe it or not I watched "Room" on a whim. All I knew about it was that Brie Larson, who I absolutely love, was in it and that I shouldn't watch any trailers or look up any reviews for it. Now I fancy myself as a guy who likes almost everything I watch. I try to find some good in everything, so when it comes to the good films that come out every year, the ones that get all of the awards nominations and such, I get even more excited. That's because I'm going into something that will no doubt engross me and make me happy on some level. Brie Larson is masterful and the child actor, Jacob Tremblay, accents everything she does with an amount of realism you don't normally see out of actors his age. "Room" is a film that took me by surprise and never let go.

"Room" follows the story of a 24 year old, Joy (Larson), and her five year old son, Jack (Tremblay), as they live in a small one room enclosure. All it has is a small kitchen, a couple of beds, a skylight and no way to leave. It is revealed that Jack has been living here since he was very young and the room is all that he knows. As Jack begins to question everything he was told when he was younger, tensions begin to arise between him and his mother. That is until one day when Joy devises a plan that will let Jack leave their room. It will change both of their lives forever.

Films that are largely based around only a few people, living life, conversing in an intimate setting, dealing with the hardships of life, etc, are ones that I'm really drawn to. It lets the person writing the film and the person directing a film get us into the characters that we're supposed to get inside the minds of. In "Room" we're drawn to get into the minds and thought processes of a young mother and her five year old son that are trapped in this room. Brie Larson plays Joy with the urgency, care and loving that you expect any mother in her situation to have. The emotion pours out of her in every scene. While everything she does is entirely believable, because we're in her mind with her. She is at her wits end and it's getting harder and harder for her to hide her horrid situation from her child. The same can be said for Jacob Tremblay playing five year old Jack. He is a child who was largely raised in one room, never allowed to leave and only has limited knowledge of the outside world. He's beginning to get to the age where he questions things, he wants to know why his mother is telling him different things and why things have to change. You root for him to get out and then break out of his shell once he leaves. Jack is a kid you can root for and Tremblay plays him in the heroic way he deserves. You can say the same heroic actions were done by Joy as well. The writer of the novel "Room," by which the film is based, Emma Donoghue, also wrote the screenplay. She put the same amount of love into crafting who we watch the film, as I assume, who we would read in the book. Lenny Abrahamson, the director, also took the time to bring to life the characters from the novel and screenplay, in a believable, emotional and real way. This score was fitting, the length was perfect and just about anything else I could come up with right here would be glowingly positive as well.

"Room" is a film I really tried to not spoil in this review cause it's best if you experience it for the first time with as little knowledge as possible. I've included the trailer below, in case you decide you still want to watch it before diving in. The performances by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay are honestly two of the best of the year. The story is a great one, filled with brilliant emotion from start to finish. It was one of my favorite 2015 films and I'm glad it's getting recognition at awards shows. There was honestly only a handful of films better than "Room" this year. It is definitely worth your time.